The UCF Knights (31-29, 18-14 in The American) are in the American Baseball Championship Game for the first time in school history, and they will take on the arch-rival USF Bulls (27-27, 14-14 in The American).

First pitch is at noon at Baycare Ballpark in Clearwater, and the game will be televised on ESPNews and ESPN+.

It’s the Knights’ first trip to The American Baseball Championship Game, and their first conference championship game appearance since 2002, when UCF was in the Atlantic Sun Conference.

The Knights dispatched 1-seed ECU last night in a 2-1 semifinal nail-biter to get here. USF meanwhile knocked out 2-seed Tulane late last night.

This is the ninth meeting between the two squads this year, and UCF has a 5-3 advantage. UCF and USF split four meetings in Tampa over April 1-3, but the Knights won three of four in Orlando on April 16 and 17.

UCF trails the all-time series, 75-73.

Starting Pitchers

UCF: A.J. Jones

• 2021: 4-3, 6.29 ERA
• April 3rd vs. USF in Tampa: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 K (UCF won, 3-0)
• April 17th vs. USF in Orlando: 5.0 IP, 5 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 4 K (UCF won, 5-4 in 10 innings)

USF: Collin Sullivan

• 2021: 3-3, 3.80 ERA
• April 2nd vs. UCF in Tampa: 8.2 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 9 K (USF won, 3-1)
• April 16 vs. UCF in Orlando: 5 IP, 10 H, 4 ER, 4 K (UCF won, 5-2)

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